U.S., South Korea to reduce scope of 'Foal Eagle' military drill: Mattis

"Foal Eagle is being reorganized a bit to keep it at a level that will not be harmful to diplomacy," Mattis told reporters. The Foal Eagle field exercise, which usually involves thousands of combined ground, air, naval and special operations troops, takes place every spring. South Korea's defense ministry said on Thursday the allies were still in talks over next year's drill and they would formally announce their decision early next month.